Legoland tomorrow - limited amount of time, what are must sees!!

[sparklejawsy]

Hi, we have 2 Free tickets (from the Sun promo) for tomorrow and are travelling down from the Midlands. I am planning to get there for 9.30/10am but as I need to be back home for 5.30pm we will need to leave about 3pm so we only have a window of about 5 hours.
So, my DS is nearly 6, really into pirates, knights etc and I'm aware it will possibly be busy with longish queues.
Can anyone give me advice on what not to miss? I really can't afford to get q-bots and want to really make the most of our day.
We'll take a picnic so won't have to queue for food etc.
Also what are the queues normally like for leaving the car park at that time of day?

The pirate show is brilliant - I think there is one at 12 so you could combine watching with eating your lunch.

DS is 6 and his favourite rides are pirate falls (wet), the two dragon-themed rollercoasters in Knights Kingdom, Atlantis and Driving School. DS also loves boating school but the queue is usually 60 mins for a pretty moderate ride so I would suggest giving that a miss.

There are screens giving queue times.

I've never left the carpark at that time, sorry. You have to pay for parking so remember to buy a ticket at the entry kiosk to avoid queuing later.

thank you, those are great tips and we'll get on the best rides first and anything else is a bonus x

I was there today. Haven't got recommendations as the queues were bad (about 45-60 mins) so we only went on two rides and saw pirate show, plus there was a traffic hold-up on the way there and queues to get in. Would definitely agree with getting there before 1000, then going straight to the main ride you def want to go on. Also turn up about 20 mins early for the Pirate Show to make sure you get a space.
I often find the queues through Slough and Windsor very bad - sometimes it's fine, often we get held up. One suggestion I have when leaving is to turn right out of entrance, rather than left to Windsor. Then follow signs for Maidenhead, get on A404 dual carriageway, and get on M40 at junction 4 up to Brum.

There is a great Legoland thread further down this page with lots more info. Have a fab day out!! If you are at the gates at opening time, then leg it straight to boating school or atlantis then take it from there.

Thanks for all your replies, we had a fab day although I felt a bit stressed as it was very busy and as I was trying to fit as much in as possible! We arrived at 9.30 and the car park was filling up even then. We got through the turnstiles but then they were holding everyone back until the park opened at 10. We did Boat School, L Drivers and Atlantis before 11.30, the queues only taking 10-20 mins. Then we got a good spot on the steps at 11.45 for the pirate show and lunch. We then did Pirate Falls, the Viking rapids (which broke down as we were about to get on - delay of 10 mins) and just squeezed in The Dragon before having a good look at Mini land and Star Wars and a very quick stop at the shop before getting back home just in time, phew!
Highlights were Atlantis, Pirate Show and Mini land and Star Wars. Got to say I thought the rides were a bit disappointing as they were very short but the Mini land and Star Wars bits were amazing.
One tip is that there was just the two of us and at the Pirate Falls (longest queue time of 40 mins) a staff member was coming along the queue asking for groups of two to fill up the log flumes. If you want to get on quicker it might be worth splitting your group down to groups of two.
Fantastic day and DS is already asking when we can go back but it's a lot of money to get in without the free tickets.